The Super-rich Ruler Who Stones Gays, Now Bans Christmas: Sultan of Brunei Threatens Muslims Who Celebrate It with Up to Five Years in Prison While Christians Must Keep Theirs Secret

Banned Christmas: Oil-rich Brunei has banned public
celebrations of Christmas for fear of Muslims being led astray.

MAIL ONLINE: Christmas trees, carols and even Santa hats are off in the Borneo nation / Muslims caught celebrating are threatened with up to five years in prison / The nation's non-Muslims are allowed to celebrate in their communities / But revealing their celebrations to Muslims would also lead to jail time

Lighting candles, putting up decorations and even wearing Santa hats will be off the cards in Brunei this Christmas – with offenders threatened with up to five years in jail.

The tiny oil-rich nation has banned the public celebrating of Christmas, following concern that it will affect the faith of its Muslims.

Any Muslims caught celebrating Christmas, and non-Muslims who are discovered organising celebrations, could face the lengthy prison sentence.

While non-Muslims are allowed to celebrate the holiday within their own communities, they must not disclose their plans to the nation’s Muslims – which make up 65 per cent of the 420,000-strong population.

The nation is also home to substantial Christian and Buddhist communities.

‘These enforcement measures are…intended to control the act of celebrating Christmas excessively and openly, which could damage the aqidah (beliefs) of the Muslim community,’ said the Ministry of Religious Affairs in a statement.

The small Borneo nation prohibits propagating religion other than Islam to a Muslim, and breaking this is a violation of the penal code.
Other banned activities include putting up Christmas trees, singing religious songs and sending Christmas greetings, reported the Borneo Bulletin. Read on and comment » | Imogen Calderwood for MailOnline | Monday, December 21, 2015

Super-rich Sultan of Brunei Bans Christmas

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: Oil-rich Brunei has officially banned all public celebrations of Christmas, announced its Ministry of Religious Affairs.

The ban was implemented after a number of people were reportedly spotted wearing clothes resembling Santa Claus at Christmas time.

Businesses that publicly displayed Christmas decorations were also asked to take them down and the ministry confirmed receiving their "full cooperation" on it.

The move follows Brunei's wealthy Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah's announcement last April on the introduction of a new Islamic penal code making it the first East Asian country to ever introduce Islamic criminal law.

Under the new law, Brunei's Muslim residents will face prosecution by Islamic courts for offences, including pregnancy outside marriage, failure to perform Friday prayers, and propagating other religions, reported Reuters. » | Maria Khan | Thursday, January 08, 2015

We Should Hail the Celebrity Boycott of the Dorchester over the Sultan and Sharia Law

THE OBSERVER: It may be a 'fashion thing' but the stance taken against the sharia-loving sultan reflects a new pro-activism

In his almost 50 years as a successful absolute ruler, the Sultan of Brunei has naturally encountered little opposition. It will have helped that criticism of the Brunei royal family, an outfit close to the heart of Prince Charles, is prohibited. Public gatherings of 10 or more people require a government permit. As for elections, there have not been any since 1962, when the British helped crush a popular uprising.

Accordingly, when the sultan announced the imposition of full sharia law, including stoning to death for adultery and homosexuality, and amputation for thieves, there was every reason to suppose this innovation, described by Amnesty as a return to the dark ages, would go swimmingly within the dictatorship and cause little trouble abroad.

His career in oppression has never, after all, impaired the Sultan's warm relations with the UK, which for some reason rents him a battalion of Gurkhas, or his business as a hotelier, proprietor of the Dorchester Collection. Unlike the Obamas, for instance, the Sultan was an honoured guest at the wedding of William and Kate; just last month Baroness Warsi, Britain's "human rights minister", allowed herself to be entertained by this supporter of laws which value her testimony at one half of a man's.

On the other hand, the Sultan has not previously annoyed Ellen DeGeneres, Stephen Fry, Richard Branson, much of the fashion industry and another force he is unlikely to encounter in his kingdom, the unionised LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender) activists, whose efforts brought his planned barbarism to celebrity attention. Now, days after the first phase of sharia law came into effect, the Sultan is, in fashion terminology, a thing. Boycotts are having a moment.

The Sultan's name is rubbished on Twitter, petitions are circulating, disrespectful placards and demonstrations assault his hotels in cities far beyond the reach of Brunei's sedition laws. In Beverly Hills, the council demands that the sultan sell up the Beverly Hills hotel or denounce his own legislation. Fry, who cancelled his own stay at the hotel group's Coworth Park, Ascot's "exclusive pampering destination", tweets followers to: "Take action against the Sultan of Brunei and his new anti-gay law by putting sanctions in place," while Yves St Laurent is one of several big names pitting fashion against sharia, with a pledge that, until the law is repealed in Brunei, none of its employees will stay in a Dorchester Collection property. Read on and comment » | Catherine Bennett | Saturday, May 10, 2014

Related »

Hollywood Turns on Sultan of Brunei

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Stars boycott Polo Lounge in protest at Sultan of Brunei's plans to introduce Sharia law at home - but waiters say it's only them who will suffer

Amid the opulent surroundings of the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, for decades the scene of Hollywood power lunches and celebrity tete-a-tetes [sic], a pall has descended.

Secluded booths once occupied by A-listers who stepped in from Sunset Boulevard lie empty as waiters stand idly by under the green-striped ceiling, listening to a pianist play Coldplay's Viva La Vida.

The lounge, once frequented by stars from Elizabeth Taylor and Marlene Dietrich to Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise, has become an unfortunate casualty of a movie industry boycott aimed at the Sultan of Brunei, the hotel's ultimate owner.

Last week Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah confirmed he was pushing ahead with a plan to introduce Sharia law for the 70 per cent of his 400,000 subjects who are Muslims, and the first phase came into effect on Thursday.

Unsurprisingly, the prospect of punishments such as death by stoning for adultery and same-sex relationships, amputations by sword for theft, and 40 lashes from a rattan cane for drunkenness, has not gone down well in Hollywood and the Sultan has been unofficially declared persona non grata. Read on and comment » | Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Saturday, May 10, 2014

My comment:

I wonder what Prince Charles has to say about the introduction of full sharia'h law in the Sultanate of Brunei? After all, the Sultan is one of Prince Charles' big chums. – © Mark

This comment appears here too.

Related »

Concern as Brunei Brings In System of Islamic Law with Punishments That Include the Dismemberment of Limbs and Stoning to Death

The Sultan of Brunei says he wants to set up a
'firewall' against globalisation

THE INDEPENDENT: The country’s ruler says sharia was created as guidance from Allah

The Sultan of Brunei, one of the world’s wealthiest rulers and a close ally of Britain, will this week oversee his country’s transition to a system of Islamic law with punishments that include flogging, the dismemberment of limbs and stoning to death.

The 67-year-old absolute monarch declared last year that he wanted to introduce a full sharia system in his oil-rich nation and warned critics who took to social media sites to complain that they could be prosecuted using the new laws.

The decision to introduce sharia and reintroduce the death penalty has been condemned by NGOs and legal rights campaigners, who say the new rules will breach international laws. It has also triggered alarm among some of Brunei’s non-Muslim communities, who will also be subject to some of the rulings. » | Andrew Buncombe | Saturday, March 29, 2014

New Dark Age Alert! Sultan of Brunei Hits Back at Foreign Criticism of Looming Implementation of Sharia Law That Will Introduce Amputations and Stonings as Punishments

MAIL ONLINE: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said all races should unite under Sharia law / He said introduction is 'a great achievement and not a backward step' / Harsh penalties include stoning for adultery and amputation fro [sic] theft / Punishments can be applied to non-Muslim residents of Brunei

The sultan of Brunei has rejected foreign criticism of the countries impending introduction of a form of strict Islamic Sharia law, saying it is not a backwards step.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said all races should unite under Sharia law and that the new penal code was a 'great achievement' for the small Southeast Asian nation.

Starting in April, Brunei will begin implementing a version of Sharia that allows for penalties such as amputation for theft and stoning for adultery.

Under limited circumstances, punishments can be applied to non-Muslim residents of the oil-rich country, according to those who have seen the law.

Public criticism of the government is extremely rare in the country, but some citizens have turned to the Internet to express alarm at the law.

Around one-third of Brunei's 440,000 people are non-Muslims, mostly Christian or Buddhist Chinese.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah told legislators Thursday that all races should unite and support the laws, which he said were a 'great achievement for the country, and not a backward or old-fashioned step.' » | Daily Mail Reporter | Wednesday, March 06, 2014